Brunswick Islands Saltwater Classic
Bruce, Haley, and Stacy Brown--the "C-Sick" anglers--with the 33.04 lb. king mackerel that earned them first place in the Brunswick Islands Saltwater Classic. Their big king bit a purple/silver-skirted menhaden near 20 miles off Carolina Beach near Christmas Rock.
Sliding into first place by less than a tenth of a pound, Wilmington’s Bruce Brown and the “C-Sick” crew scaled a 33.04 lb. king mackerel to earn first place in the 2012 Brunswick Islands Saltwater Classic, held August 31-September 1 out of Oak Island’s South Harbour Village Marina.
Brown, fishing with his brother Stacy and niece Haley on a 26’ Mako center console, didn’t do any pre-fishing prior to the tournament but based their gameplan on a satellite report.
“We decided to hit one of the spots we go to based on a Hilton’s report,” Brown explained. “The temperature and surface altimetry were right.”
Leaving Wrightsville Beach the morning of the event, the anglers caught menhaden in the Lollipop and near Williams Landing, and then headed out Carolina Beach Inlet to their chosen spot.
“We were over 20 miles out of Carolina Beach near the Christmas Rock,” Brown continued.
The anglers began slow-trolling when they arrived, but found little to get excited about during the first few hours of competition.
“We fought through a couple sharks but that was it,” said Brown.
Finally, around 10:30, the anglers got their only mackerel bite of the day on a medium top line baited with a menhaden beneath a purple/silver Blue Water Candy Hot Shot skirt.
“We’d actually drifted 200-300 yards off our number,” Brown recalled. “We were untangling lines since the wind kept blowing them together when that fish bit.”
As the reel squealed, Stacy Brown took it from the holder and the fight was on.
“That fish made two long runs,” he said. “We fought it for about 15 minutes.”
The fish stayed on the surface the entire fight, and it remained cooperative even in the endgame.
“When we got him up to the boat,” Brown explained, “he rolled right over and I gaffed him.”
Putting the 33 lb. fish on deck was cause for celebration aboard the “C-Sick,” and the anglers soon made the call to close the distance between themselves and the scales.
“That was pretty much the end of our fishing day,” the winning captain continued. “We headed in and piddled around inshore at Yaupon Reef for a little while.”
After landing a spanish mackerel, the anglers headed into Southport and on to South Harbour Village, making it before the weigh-in began at 3:00.”
“When they came down to the scales, we were there waiting on them,” Brown said.
The big king not only earned “C-Sick” the first place check in the event, it also crowned Haley Brown the event’s Top Junior Angler.
Right on the “C-Sick” crew’s heels were Corey Durako and the “Blew By U!” anglers, who scaled a 32.99 lb. fish to secure second place. Ken Strickland and the “All In” team finished third with a 30.25 lb. king. A 29.62 lb. mackerel earned Brent Gainey and “Miller Time” the fourth place honors, and Russell Howard on the “Hook Um Up” rounded out the top five with a 28.62 lb. king.
A full rundown of the leaderboard and more information on the Brunswick Islands Saltwater Classic and other Blue Water Promotions events, including the Atlantic Beach Saltwater Classic, are available at www.bluewaterpromo.com.
